Ellen Gray
Philly Online

JEFF PROBST'S the ultimate survivor.

"Survivor" contestants come and go - there have been 112 so far, if you count the 16 who'll be tossed overboard during tomorrow's premiere of the pirate-themed "Survivor: Pearl Islands" - but Probst, who's hosted all of them and is signed through No. 12, is as much a fixture as the icky-foods challenge.

And while it's hard to find a smarmy "reality" host who doesn't seem to be channeling the tribal-council inquisitor, Probst himself seems to have transcended ridicule to become the trusted front man of television's most enduring "reality" franchise.

Hell, now that Bryant Gumbel's gone, they even trust him to host the reunion specials. (And don't think the Gumbel thing didn't bug him.)

Trust, of course, is a tricky thing when you talk about "Survivor." Probst's boss, executive producer Mark Burnett, has made it clear he has no qualms about lying to reporters, so it's just as well that CBS put Probst, not Burnett, on the phone with several of us this week to talk about the pirate-themed "Pearl Islands."

"I'm not Mark. I don't overhype," he said at one point, admitting that last season's finale, in which swimsuit model Jenna Morasca won $1 million, "knocked me over."

He also doesn't censor himself as much as he once might have, sprinkling his answers with occasional profanity and suggesting that producers may have something in common with those contestants on whose past drug use The Smoking Gun Web site reported this week:

"There's a lot of surfing and a lot of pot smoking done trying to figure out the next twist" in the game, he said.

OK, I'll believe that one.

Here's Probst on what viewers can expect from "Pearl Islands":

On the show's (pixillated) nudity: "This is not the nude season. Last season was the nude season."

On male nudity, in particular: "Guys just look stupid...You look like an idiot with your thing dangling there. Just put on your shorts and let's go."

On lying (by contestants, not producers): "There is the greatest lie ever told in 'Survivor' this season. It's brilliant. It's brutal and it's brilliant...My first reaction was, 'M- - - - -f- - - - -.' "

On Pittman, N.J., native Michelle Tesauro, 22: "She's really athletic and cute...she definitely came to play. She's probably scrappier than any girl we've had in a while."

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